Shelter Scotland warns over increasing number of young people affected by homelessness

Scotland is in the grip of a housing “crisis” with private renters and the young disproportionately affected, according to Shelter Scotland.

A report from the housing and homelessness charity reveals it helped more than 21,000 people in the last year, with more than 825,000 unique visits to online advice pages.

The top issues facing those in need between April 2016 and March were struggling to afford housing costs, housing conditions and issues with landlords.

Almost half (46%) of people needing help were private renters, despite the sector making up only 14% of homes in Scotland.

Young people aged between 16 and 34 also made up almost half (46%) of those who sought advice.

A similar percentage (44%) needed help keeping their home, while 29% of people who approached the charity wanted assistance to find a home, including advice on homelessness.

More than 1,000 people who were already homeless came to the charity for help.

Deputy director Alison Watson said: “This report shows the disproportionate impact of Scotland’s housing crisis on young people and private renters who are both over-represented in the number of people we helped.

“The terrible shortage of truly affordable homes, harsh welfare reforms, stagnant wages and the high cost of keeping a roof over their head are the main reasons driving people to ask for help.

“Struggling to afford or pay housing costs is the biggest presenting problem people have when coming to us for help.”

She added: “The statistics speak for themselves – on average, a household in Scotland becomes homeless every 19 minutes. We are seeing more reports of rough sleepers dying on our city streets.

“Unknown numbers are sofa surfing with friends and families as they don’t have, or cannot afford, a home of their own. Our teams were contacted by more than 1,000 households who were already homeless.

“Behind those statistics are people, families, individuals – people on low incomes, people with complex needs, people in crisis – some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Labour’s Pauline McNeill MSP said: “Thousands of young people can’t afford the deposit for a home and don’t have access to social housing so are forced to rent privately – but the rent is so high that many can never save up enough.

“Labour has been putting pressure on the SNP government for months to take the housing crisis seriously. That means building more homes with a national housebuilding strategy, creating jobs and cutting poverty levels, but also reforming the private rented sector too.”

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “This Government is working hard to protect the most vulnerable in society from the impact of the UK Government’s harsh austerity cuts.

“We have delivered 60,000 affordable homes in our time in office, reintroduced council housing, ended right to buy, and are supporting people into home ownership.

“In addition, we are building at a rate faster than anywhere else in the UK, and in fact we have built 41,000 more homes than would have been built at England’s slower per-capita rate. That’s the equivalent of a new town the size of Paisley.

“We are on track to deliver even more houses in this parliamentary term with our commitment to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes – including 35,000 social homes, backed by over £3 billion investment during the lifetime of this Parliament.”

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